Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring

A work in progress with no end in sight

BALDIE

On the C19th Scottish origins and naming of the herring drifter known as the Baldie, including a photograph of two at Pittenweem

BALDIE

Like the currant biscuit which also originated in the 1860s, the name of this Scottish East Coast boat celebrates the popular Italian radical nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Developed from traditional open skiffs, which were favoured up until the mid C19th for reasons of cost and ease of operation, Baldies were decked, but had a large open section in the middle of the vessel. With a double-ended Fifie hull – clinker or carvel-built – it was between 23ft and 40ft in length, but the structure varied as fishermen and builders responded to the government encouragement and economic logics of part and fully decked boats. It was rigged with a dipping lug mainsail and a standing lug mizzen.

It is also known as the Leith Baldie, after the town where the first one was built.

Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring

Beautiful information on the herring has no end. Neither has this encyclopaedia. It’s always been a comic fish. This encyclopaedia respects that. Its stories, intertwined with our own, reveal the folly of mankind. This also has no end. Follow the herripedia on Facebook or Twitter for regular news and updates.